Australia

===Arts===
{{Main|Australian art|Australian literature|Theatre of Australia|Dance in Australia}}
The [[rock art]] of Australia's Indigenous peoples is the oldest and richest in the world, dating as far back as 60,000 years and spread across hundreds of thousands of sites.<ref>Taçon, Paul S. C. (2001). "Australia". In Whitely, David S.. ''Handbook of Rock Art Research''. [[Rowman & Littlefield]]. pp. 531–575. ISBN 978-0-7425025-6-7</ref> Traditional designs, patterns and stories infuse [[contemporary Indigenous Australian art]], "the last great art movement of the 20th century";<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/arts/06iht-aborigine.html |title=Powerful growth of Aboriginal art |last=Henly |first=Susan Gough |date=6 November 2005 |work=The New York Times }}</ref> its exponents include [[Emily Kame Kngwarreye]].<ref>Smith, Terry (1996) "Kngwarreye Woman, Abstract Painter", p. 24 in ''Emily Kngwarreye – Paintings'', North Ryde NSW: Craftsman House / G + B Arts International. ISBN 90-5703-681-9.</ref> During the first century of European settlement, colonial artists, trained in Europe, showed a fascination with the unfamiliar land.<ref name="art" /> The [[realism (arts)|naturalistic]], sun-filled works of [[Arthur Streeton]], [[Tom Roberts]] and others associated with the 19th-century [[Heidelberg School]]—the first "distinctively Australian" movement in Western art—gave expression to a burgeoning Australian nationalism in the lead-up to Federation.<ref name="art">[http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/discover-art/learn-more/australian-art/ Australian art], [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]]. Retrieved 27 August 2014.</ref> While the school remained influential into the new century, [[modern art|modernists]] such as [[Margaret Preston]], and, later, [[Sidney Nolan]] and [[Arthur Boyd]], explored new artistic trends.<ref name="art" /> The landscape remained a central subject matter for [[Fred Williams]], [[Brett Whiteley]] and other post-World War II artists whose works, eclectic in style yet uniquely Australian, moved between the [[figurative art|figurative]] and the [[abstract art|abstract]].<ref name="art" /><ref>[http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/brett-whiteley-nature/ Brett Whiteley: Nature], Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 15 April 2015.</ref> The [[National Gallery of Australia]] and state galleries maintain collections of Australian and international art.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Artists & Galleries of Australia|publisher=Craftsman House|location=Roseville, Vic.|year=1990|isbn=976-8097-02-7|author=Germaine, Max|pages=756–58, 796–97, 809–10, 814–15, 819–20, 826–27, 829–30}}</ref> Australia has one of the world's highest attendances of art galleries and museums per head of population.<ref>Ron Radford, Director of the [[National Gallery of Australia]], quoted in {{cite news|last=Blake|first=Elissa|title=The art of persuasion|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] (Spectrum section)|date=4–5 February 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Sidney Nolan Snake.jpg|thumb|[[Sidney Nolan]]'s ''Snake'' mural (1970), held at the [[Museum of Old and New Art]] in Hobart, Tasmania, is inspired by the Aboriginal creation myth of the [[Rainbow Serpent]], as well as desert flowers in bloom after a drought.<ref>"Sidney Nolan's Rainbow Serpent is larger than life" (16 June 2012), ''The Australasian''.</ref>]]
[[Australian literature]] grew slowly in the decades following European settlement though Indigenous [[oral tradition]]s, many of which have since been recorded in writing, are much older.<ref>Sarwal, Amit; Sarwal, Reema (2009). ''Reading Down Under: Australian Literary Studies Reader''. SSS Publications. p. xii. ISBN 978-8190228213.</ref> Writers of the 19th-century [[The Bulletin#Early history|Bulletin School]], such as [[Henry Lawson]] and [[Banjo Paterson]], captured the experience of [[The bush#Australia|the bush]] using a distinctive Australian vocabulary. Their works are still very popular; Paterson's [[bush poetry|bush poem]] "[[Waltzing Matilda]]" (1895) is regarded as Australia's unofficial national anthem.<ref>O'Keeffe, Dennis (2012). ''Waltzing Matilda: The Secret History of Australia's Favourite Song''. [[Allen & Unwin]]. p. back cover. ISBN 978-1-74237-706-3.</ref> [[Miles Franklin]] is the namesake of Australia's [[Miles Franklin Award|most prestigious literary prize]], awarded to the best novel about Australian life.<ref>[http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/miles-franklin-literary-award Miles Franklin Literary Award], australia.gov.au. Retrieved 18 April 2015.</ref> Its first recipient, [[Patrick White]], went on to win the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 1973.<ref>[http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/australias-nobel-laureates Australia's Nobel Laureates and the Nobel Prize], australia.gov.au. Retrieved 17 April 2015.</ref> Australian winners of the [[Man Booker Prize]] include [[Peter Carey (novelist)|Peter Carey]], [[Thomas Keneally]] and [[Richard Flanagan]].<ref>Hughes-D'Aeth, Tony (15 October 2014). [http://theconversation.com/australias-booker-prize-record-suggests-others-will-come-in-flanagans-wake-33025 "Australia’s Booker prize record suggests others will come in Flanagan’s wake"], ''[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]''. Retrieved 17 April 2014.</ref> [[David Malouf]] and [[David Williamson]] are also renowned writers<ref>Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, p. 394.</ref> and [[Les Murray (poet)|Les Murray]] is regarded as "one of the leading poets of his generation".<ref name="JT77">{{cite web|url=http://johntranter.com/reviewer/1977-murray.shtml |title=Tranter, John (1977) A warrior poet living still at Anzac Cove: Review of ''The Vernacular Republic: Selected Poems'' |publisher=Johntranter.com |date=29 January 1977 |accessdate=14 June 2010}}</ref>

Many of Australia's performing arts companies receive funding through the federal government's [[Australia Council for the Arts|Australia Council]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/13753/Australia_Council_for_the_Arts_-_Funding_Guide_2010.pdf |year=2010 |title=Arts funding guide 2010 |publisher=[[Australia Council]] |format=PDF |accessdate=14 June 2010| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705002654/http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/13753/Australia_Council_for_the_Arts_-_Funding_Guide_2010.pdf| archivedate= 5 July 2010 | deadurl=no}}</ref> There is a symphony orchestra in each state,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/50231/LECG_Orchestras_Review_evaluation_summary.pdf |title=Evaluation of the Orchestras Review 2005 funding package implementation |format=PDF |accessdate=23 April 2010 |publisher=Australia Council}}{{dead link|date=March 2015}}</ref> and a national opera company, [[Opera Australia]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20080723135113/http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/the_arts/artists_and_orgs/artists/opera_australia |title=Opera Australia |publisher=Australia Council |accessdate=23 April 2010}}</ref> well known for its famous [[soprano]] [[Joan Sutherland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/music/opera/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406111552/http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/music/opera/ |archivedate=6 April 2011 |title=Opera in Australia |publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts |date=5 March 2007}}</ref> At the beginning of the 20th century, [[Nellie Melba]] was one of the world's leading opera singers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themonthly.com.au/encounters-shane-maloney-nellie-melba-enrico-caruso--160 |title=Nellie Melba & Enrico Caruso |work=[[The Monthly]]|author=Maloney, Shane |date=December 2005 – January 2006 |accessdate=23 April 2010}}</ref> Ballet and dance are represented by [[The Australian Ballet]] and various state companies. Each state has a publicly funded theatre company.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/brandis/media/media_releases/2007/35_per_cent_increase_in_funding_for_australias_major_performing_arts_companies/ |title=35 per cent increase in funding for Australia's major performing arts companies |author=Brandis, George |publisher=Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts |date=8 May 2007 |accessdate=23 April 2010 |authorlink=George Brandis|archiveurl=http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/36698/20071112-1356/www.minister.dcita.gov.au/brandis/media/media_releases/2007/35_per_cent_increase_in_funding_for_australias_major_performing_arts_companies.html|archivedate=12 November 2007}}</ref>